Chapter 4 - The Old Man Acknowledges a Master on the Spot

“I need water!” Lu Hong sprawled onto the old man’s armchair, and the old man diligently poured him a cup of fruit wine, saying, “This is a gift from the Elven Royal Court to Emperor Konstantin.

Have a taste.”

“Uh?” Lu Hong took a sip, the inexplicably fragrant yet subtle taste of wine intoxicating.

“This is really good, old man.

How did you manage to get such delicious wine?”

“Hehe…” The old man said sheepishly, “My ancestors belonged to the royal family under Emperor Konstantin, so we get a small share every year.

Oh my little ancestor, slow down!

You downed such a big cup in one gulp?

That’s my monthly ration!”

“How stingy!” Lu Hong put down his cup and gathered his thoughts.

“According to what you just said, I’ve now been reclassified as a warrior, and I’m the first blessed warrior in nearly a thousand years?”

“Yes, yes, your old self is now a proper warrior.

At best, I’m just a reservist.

You must absolutely not let the War God’s efforts go in vain!” The old man was extremely excited—he understood what a blessed warrior meant.

If, not if, but in case he could make it to the Third Transition, he would be able to summon his own soul weapon, which was in fact the War God’s own blade!

“Now I really want to know how those who weren’t blessed manage to change their class?” Lu Hong asked curiously.

“They rely on the infusion of Fighting Spirit from senior warriors, but the chances of success are exceedingly low.

Without the War God’s blessing, the condensation of Fighting Spirit has to be entirely self-generated.

Perhaps only one in a hundred people infused with Fighting Spirit can refine it to become a warrior,” the old man explained.

“Back in my day, I was infused with Fighting Spirit by my grandfather and it took half a lifetime to transition into a Great War Master.”

“Oh!

I see.

Are there any Third Transition warriors left in the Konstantin Empire?” Lu Hong was still very concerned about the warrior group.

The old man shook his head.

“There are top-tier practitioners in other professions who have reached the Third Transition, but the most formidable warrior right now is Barton.

However, he is over fifty years old now, and he is a Grade 8 Great War Master.

Since he hasn’t been granted combat skills by the Holy Temple, even now he cannot learn the skills that a Level 8 warrior should know—namely, Cleave.”

“What?!

He doesn’t know Cleave?!

Does that mean he hasn’t learned the Great War Master’s skill, Fatal Strike either?”

“Ah?

Great War Masters have that skill?!” The old man was stunned and looked utterly confused.

“After transitioning to Great War Master, one learns ten new skills, namely Fatal Strike, Broadblade War Sword Slam, Storm Strike, Parry, Brutal Suppression, Shattered Throw, Weakness Detection, Potential Squeeze, Fighting Spirit Armor, and Fighting Spirit Burst.

Do you know about these?”

Lu Hong’s mention of these skills left the old man bewildered, clearly having no idea what Lu Hong was talking about.

No wonder warriors have declined, Lu Hong stood up and said, “Alright, alright, if you don’t know, you don’t know.

Anyway, you won’t see these skills in the future.”

“Are you really telling the truth?

Did the War God tell you that?” The old man’s eyes shone with respect as he looked at Lu Hong.

“Sort of,” Lu Hong didn’t want to linger on these issues, so he asked, “Do you have a sword here?

I need to practice some combat skills.”

“What!” The old man was shocked once again.

“You know combat skills?

Did the War God bless you with combat skills while granting you his blessings?!”

“Yes, yes, just hurry and get me a sword!” Lu Hong snapped.

Taking the long sword the old man handed to him, Lu Hong stood in front of the ruins, quietly sensing the faint Fighting Spirit within his body.

Since being blessed by the War God, he had become a formal warrior, entitled to the rank of a Level 1 warrior.

The reason why the game “Sky Realm” was so popular was because of the unparalleled sense of reality brought about by the virtual helmet.

It blurred the lines between reality and illusion.

In “Sky Realm,” using a skill was not just about issuing a simple command, but genuinely manipulating one’s internal Fighting Spirit to release the skill.

For a veteran player who was extremely familiar with warrior skills, releasing a skill was a piece of cake.

“Combat Skill—War Challenge!” Lu Hong cried out low.

His Fighting Spirit flowed along a predetermined path continuously, ultimately channeling from his palm into the long sword.

A smear of thin Fighting Spirit traced along the sword as it swung diagonally upwards, leaving a shallow mark on the ground.

As a Level 1 warrior, his power was indeed low.

Although dissatisfied with the power of his skills, Lu Hong was quite satisfied with the speed and proficiency of his skill execution.

“Ah…

ah…” The old man’s eyes widened; he had never seen anyone just transitioned into a job release a Fighting Spirit skill during a single Cleave.

Please, when he had learned this skill, his own grandfather had chased him for over a month before he barely mastered it.

“Battle Skill—Cleave!” Lu Hong bellowed again, his long sword sweeping through a crescent moon.

“Battle Skill—Sand Explosion!” The sand lifted by the long sword trembled violently and exploded under the infusion of Fighting Spirit.

However, the power was too small, even firecrackers seemed more imposing than this skill.

“This is…

this is…” The old man almost popped his eyeballs out, Oh my God!

It was a combo attack using battle skills!

So far, he had only mastered three types of battle skill combos, was this kid even human?!

“Hu!” A level 1 warrior was indeed very weak; just after releasing three skills, he had exhausted the Fighting Spirit in his body.

Moreover, his own strength wasn’t great either.

If it weren’t for his body that carried orcish blood, he probably couldn’t even hold onto the sword now.

Lu Hong dropped his long sword and sat on the ground, “Old man, this sword won’t do.

It’s too light.

A warrior should wield a Broadblade War Sword.”

“Huh?

Why aren’t you saying anything?

Do you have a fever?

Or is your mind muddled?” Seeing that the old man couldn’t say a word, Lu Hong quickly showed concern.

“You…

you are truly a genius!

I finally understand why the War God blessed you, you are the savior of our warrior class!” The old man said excitedly, “You can definitely revive our warrior class!”

“Did you hear what I just said?”

“What did you say?” the old man asked.

“I said, a warrior should wield a Broadblade War Sword; your thin, long, broken sword isn’t good.”

“Oh please, young master.

I see you struggling to wield this sword.

Warriors used to use Broadblade War Swords, but later, the skills using Heavy Swords became lost.

We had no choice but to take the path of skillfulness.

If I could learn those skills you mentioned, I wouldn’t use a thin sword either!” The old man looked dejected.

“What about…

the ten exclusive skills of the Great War Master, would you like to learn them?” Lu Hong grinned devilishly.

“Could it be…

the War God has blessed you?” The old man suddenly felt his long-silent heart start to beat violently.

“Pretty much.

I will show you the starting posture for the Fatal Strike.

I will teach you step by step how Fighting Spirit circulates, but it might take a year to fully master,” Lu Hong examined the frail old man, contemplating.

Although he hadn’t specialized as a Great War Master during his Second Transition, he was extremely familiar with the occupation.

He had studied for a long time how Fighting Spirit circulated and the movements involved in releasing battle skills.

Even if he couldn’t use them particularly proficiently, of course, teaching the old man was more than enough.

“Really?

You’re not lying?” The old man rubbed his hands embarrassedly, looking at Lu Hong somewhat shyly.

“Of course, come here, and I’ll show you the starting posture right now.” Lu Hong picked up the long sword again and slowly broke down the movements of Fatal Strike for the old man to watch.

After seeing the starting posture, the old man immediately knelt down and saluted Lu Hong, “Master accept this, your disciple bows to you!” He then kowtowed three times.

“Hey, hey, hey, I can’t be your master!

Get up quickly!” Lu Hong hurried to help the old man up, but the old man refused to get up, “Unless you agree, I won’t get up!”

Lu Hong knew that the old man was a faithful believer in the warrior class, though his faith had not been realized for many years.

So he said, “Alright, I agree.

I will teach you all the battle skills of the Great War Master step by step, but how far you go after that will depend on your own efforts.”

“Thank you, master, I will work hard!” After saying this, he kowtowed three more times.

Well then, Lu Hong’s trip to the Warrior Temple had been quite rewarding.

Not only had he transitioned into becoming a warrior, but he had also accepted an old disciple.

It was indeed hard on him, but for the revival of the warrior class, what were these hardships really?